The girl served us cocktails at Mercbar in Soho – wearing the most fabulous headpiece. I couldn’t help but ask her: Where did you get your headpiece? She smiled humbly and said: I made it – it’s made out of silk and banana hemp. What? I got her card, but lost it – months later I rediscovered her card in my carry-on and got in touch. Fabwick readers meet Alicia Carr!

FW: Fabwick -  AC: Alicia Carr

FW: Who is Alicia Carr?

AC: I am a girl who lives in NYC and loves to make couture and demi-couture hats.

FW: Do you wear a headpiece every day?

AC: I do.

FW: I love wearing headpieces and I have several smaller pieces and hats – how can you encourage me to do so more often?

AC: The more you wear them, the more you can become comfortable. You have to embrace how they (can) bring out aspects of your personality. They can bring out personas. They embellish parts of you.

FW: What is the background story on your production of these pieces? How did this company start?

AC: I studied fashion and segued into event production. One of our clients was a hat designer and she offered to teach me. I loved that it seemed more akin to sculpture and art. There seemed to be much more freedom in it.

FW: In your bio, it says you gathered inspiration from your travels. Can you expand on that a bit? Where did you travel and what in particular inspired you?

AC: I have so much wanderlust. The hardest thing about doing an art form that includes so much equipment, is that it’s rather hard to be nomadic, but I am at my most inspired when traveling. You see and experience so many little things outside of your normal reality. Everything can be inspiring- from the colors of the sea in Formentera, to different societies and their etiquettes and mannerisms, the stooped widows in Sardegna and their traditional mourning garb or the silhouettes on a door. Almost nothing inspires me more than ancient European doors and the colors of their crumbling paint.

FW: Why are the “ragged and tattered silhouettes” so important to your artistic vision?

AC: Tattered Gossamer was named to pay homage to my fascination with the dichotomy between tattered, worn, earthy aspects of nature, and gossamer, haunting, dreamlike forms. The tattered aspect speaks of the effect of time on form, and the actual deterioration of material; of how this leaves an imprint and remnant of a history or story behind. Gossamer is unearthly, untouched, intangible and ethereal. I am inspired by the space where these elements meet.

FW: The photos of your products are very unique. Some are playful, some are edgy, and some are natural. Do you have an artistic vision when going onto the set? Or do you leave that mostly up to the photographer?

AC: I am always involved in the artistic direction of the shoot. So far, I have had the amazing fortune to work with very brilliant and talented people who have been really fantastic to collaborate with.

FW: Who is your target customer?

AC: Someone who wants to move it past ordinary. Someone who wants to have a touch of something fantastical or fancy in their day-to-day lives.

FW: When did you start making men’s hats? Was that a hard transition from the femininity of your other pieces?

AC: I started making men’s hats when I met my husband. He is a perfect muse and model. It was not really a hard transition, but it is still a direction that I am exploring.

To learn more about Tattered Gossamer and to view Alicia’s collections visit tatteredgossamer.com